How Elon Musk Used Thai Cave Saga To Pioneer A New Form Of Viral Tourism

Hours after the last teenager made it out of a cave in Thailand alive, Elon Musk started a Twitter argument over how much credit he deserved for offering to help save the kids.

The rescue efforts captured international attention for a week, after Richard Stanton and another diver found the boys, trapped by rising waters. One by one, the dozen teenage soccer team members and their coach were escorted out of the cave, alive. And Musk was there, with an invention he’d dreamed up on the fly and brought to the rescue site, just in case it was needed. The invention was a kid-sized submarine, one that Narongsak Osatanakorn, the official running coordination of the rescue effort, told the Guardian was “not practical” for their mission.

And that’s the quote that seemed to prompt Musk to fight online about his role in the rescue. Questioning the official’s expertise, Musk said Stanton was the real expert, and offered up his email exchange with the elite diver to prove his ideas were welcome.